Educational device



Feb lf3, 1940 E. F. His-ER 2,189,902

DUcATIoNAL DEVICE Original Filed Aug. 25, 193'? E. E Hz'ser JNVENTOR.

" ATTORNEY Patentedreb. 13, 1940 UNITED s'm'riazsl 2,189,902 EDUCATIONAL DEVICE y Ernest F. Hiser, OklahomaCity, Okla. i

Application August 25, 1937,- serial No. 160,900 i Renewed October 2, 1939 This invention relates tor educational devices somewhat in the nature of spelling boards and has for its object to provide such a device which is' simple in construction and more efcient in operation than those heretofore proposed.

With these and other objects in view the in-` vention resides in the novel details of construction and combinations of parts as will be disclosed more fully hereinafterfand` particularly pointed out `in the claims.

. Referring tothe accompanying drawing forming apart of this specification and in which like numerals designate like parts :in all the views- Fig. 1 is an elevational or plan view of a device made in accordance with this invention;

; Fig. 2fis a transverse sectional View of the device taken as on the line 2--2 of Fig. 1 and looking in the direction of the arrows; and

Fig. 3 is `a fragmentary transverse sectional view taken asy on the line 3 3 of Fig. 1 andlooking in the direction ofthe arrows'. v

This, device comprises a box-like structur having a bottom wall I and sidewalls such asf 2,

the bottom wall having suitably secured thereto at its center a circular disk 3.` At' the center of said disk there is provided a pivot pin liV extending, upwardly therefrom and having loosely mounted thereabout a circular, plate 5, the disk 3 serving as a spacer between said plate and the bottomnwall l. Said plate is provided witha "circular row of linger holes i5 by means of which lA cover l is providedfor the box-like structure andsecured to the sides 2 thereof, said cover having a generally circular central opening 8 the diameter of which is such thatthe row of finger holes 6 is closely adjacent but uncovered by the circumferential edge thereof, therebeing a tab portion 9 pointed to simulate an arrowhead extending inwardly of theopening` for a purpose presently to appear.

Adjacent one side of the box, and formed "in the cover This a window or sight opening l0 extendingradially, or in a direction yfromthe y opening ii to the side of the box, andthiswindow has `associated therewith a plurality of covers,

blinds, or doors, there being three shown in the drawing and identified by the numerals ll, `I2

` and i3, each being hinged as at M tothe cover l,

`and each having a pull tab such as l5 by means` of which the door may be turned about itsl'iinge.`

; Thesethere liealmtliet losely, aswellas the VPA'IENT om@ window' 9, to normally and completely hide the' dow, but when a door is lifted a portion of said plate is made readily visible. The topsurface of the coverl is divided as by area of the rotatable plate 5 beneath said Winthe` lines I6 and `l1 into one area, and further ,A

divided as by similar lines i8 and I9 into another area, and again by the lines 2D and 2| into a third area, each area disposed substantially .radially "of A the` cover forconvenience. Within veach area y there is printed or otherwise depicted a plurality of pictorial objects of anysuitable classification, or the depictions may beof heterogeneousobjects as desired, and the objects of one area will be difp ferent from the objects in any other area. Furopening '8" of thecover 'l is marked off into'a' plurality of divisions whichare substantially rec' tangles placed one 'after thel other-andicontain-` ingthe successive letters ofthe alphabet, each mensurate with the center-to-center equal `spac`` ing of the finger holes 6,so'that the finger holes4 will register with, the letter rectangles.` These rectangles, or some of themMmay also contain i i the ten digits from 1 vto 0 andalso may include the plus, minus, times and equal marks to be found in simple mathematical equations, as well.,

as a question mark, all fas will be clear from the Showing in Fig'. 1. The sides of the tab 9 are division or rectangle being of` an extent corn-` preferably made concave in the circular path` of the nger 'holes to provideV an abutment for the finger when the plate5 isrotated.

The exposed surface of the plate-5 near the center thereof has a pointerV printed thereon (which `may be suitably marked as by the word start) as indicated `at 22, the point of `this pointer adapted to register as ,shown in the drawing with the arrowhead `pointxof the tab 9 in order to place the plate 5 in correct starting position' with reference to associated parts of the device when the device is tobe used. The printed arrow such` as 23l is provided on this exposed area of the plate 5 toindicate the direc-v tion of rotation to be given said plate.

The upper surface ofthe plate 5 between its edge and the row of nger holes'is provided with one circular area `II whose width radially of said plate is such as to register with the exposed poris raised, and this, area has printed thereon in the objects depicted in the area lying between'the- `tion of the window Iilwhen` the door Il thereof lines IISr and I'I ofthe cover I, the spacing of such duplications being commensurate with the spacing of the nger holes. Similarly there is provided another circular area I2' on the surface `of the plate 5 Whose position and width radially of said plate is such as to register with the exposed portion of the window Illy when the door :I 2 thereof is raised, and this area has printed thereon in similar spaced relation duplications of,4 the objects depicted in the` area lying between the4 lines I8 and IS of the cover There is a third circular area I3 of the plate 5 whose position and width radially of said plate is such as to register with the exposed portion of the window I0 when the door I3 thereof is raised, and this area has printed thereon in similar spaced relation duplications of the objects depicted in the area lying betweenthe lines 20 and 2| of the cover 'I. In Fig. 1 the area on the cover 'I betweenv the lines I6 and I'I has been pictorially identified as at 24 by the numeral l within a circle, and this same mark of identication is imprinted on the door I I'. the cover 1 have been pictorially identied respectively by the numerals 2 and 3, each within a circle, and these same marks of identification have been imprinted respectively on the doors I 2 and I3.

With the foregoing description, the use and operation of this device will now be set forth.

The plate 5 is rotated until the starting pointer` 22 thereon is in point registrationv with the arrowhead point of the tab 9 of the cover 1. Then one of the objects is selected in one of the areas of said cover, such as the horse for example shown in the area identified by the numeral l within a circle. The name of this object is then f spelled. by placing a nger in the nger hole registering with the'letter H rectangle and rotating the plate 5 by bringing the finger down against the tab S in the rotational direction or the arrow 23. 'I'he finger is then removed and placed in the finger hole of plate 5 now registering with the letter O rectangle and the plate again rotated in the same direction untilthe finger comes to. rest against said tab; in simi-lar manner the fin- `ger hole registeringr with the. R letterV rectangle is brought around until the finger. therein is stopped by said tab, after which the finger hole kregistering with S is brought around to said tab,

and finally the finger hole opposite E is brought down against said tab. If the spelling of horse has been done properly, that is if this word has been spelled properly by thus dialing the plate 5, the corresponding picture of a horse and the printed word horse will be visible when the door II is raised, since this dooris identified with the depictions on the plate. 5 of all of the objects in the corresponding area of the cover 'I. On the other hand if some other picture appears in this window opening then the operator will know he has made a` mistake in the selection of the proper letters in the name of the object'. lIn other words, proper dialing of the actual letters in a word will always result in the bringing to view of the picture corresponding to that word and therebycheck the manual operation. It is of course possible that an incorrect spelling may produce the saine resulting check, as for example sequentiallyldialing the letters h-r-o-s-e instead ofk h-o-r-s-e but this fallacy inl spelling may be consideredl negligible for two reasons, rst the operator must know or have a fairly denite idea of the proper letters in the word,

- and second the picture brought to view at the In a similar manner the other two areas of conclusion of the operations will check such operations and have associated therewith the word in itsproper spelling.

Mathematical problems may be dialed in a similar manner. In other words the problem 2-i-2=? in the same cover area will be dialed by using successively the finger holes opposite to or registering with the letter rectangle containing 2, the plus sign, 2, the equalsign, and then the question mark sign, whereupon when the door I I is raised there will appear the numeral 4 constituting and proving the answer.

Thus it will be seen that by this invention lthere is provided a gaine board or spelling board which may have wide and varied'possibilities, and adaptabilities to both young and old people. The specic objects and equations particularly illustrated in Fig. 1 are elementary in character and therefore more suitable for children, but it is within the scope of this invention to provide a .device wherein all of the objectsl in one areamay comprise various iiowers, while all of the objects in another area may be animals, and the device may be further modiiied by requiring the spelling oi they botanical or Zoological name of the flower and the animal linstead of spelling its common name so that this device would be quite useful to one learning botany or Zoology. In addition the depictions may include portraits or caricatures of well known individuals, historical buildings which are well known, important edices, and so on. Further modifications should be apparent but only one more will be specifically mentioned namely, the requirement for the nobject to be spelled in the French language, for example, wherefore thisv device may nd extreme usefulness to a student of that language in making him proicient in his vocabulary.

It is obvious that those skilled in the art may vary -the details of construction and arrangements of parts within the scope of this invention and therefore itis desired not to be limited to the exact foregoing description except as may be demanded by the claims.

What is claimed is:

`l. In a device of the character described the combination of a rotatable member and a pivot mounting said member centrally on the base of said device, and a cover having a sight opening therein, said cover extending over said member r and secured to the base of said device, said member having thereon depictions of objects arranged in a row aligned with said opening, said cover having-thereon selectable visible depictions which are duplicates of those on said member, said cover having a central aperture exposing said pivot, said cover having a finger stop extending thereinto from'the periphery of such aperture in a direction toward said pivot, said cover also having letters of the alphabet spaced around'said aperture, said member having a series of finger holes exposed by said aperture and arranged to pass successively beneath said finger stop when said memberis rotated, said nger holes disposed adjacent to and registrable with said letters of the alphabet, and means for facilitating rotating said member from said ringer stop as a predetermined starting point through a certain angular movement to bring about registry with said opening of the depiction on said member corresponding to the depiction` selected from said cover, said angular movement corresponding to 2. In a device of the character described the 75 combination of a rotatable member and a pivot mounting said member centrally on the base of s aid device, and a cover having a sight opening therein, said cover extending over said member and secured to the base of said device, said member having thereon depictions of objects arranged in a row aligned withsaid opening, said cover having thereon selectable visible depotionswhich are duplicates of those on said member, `said cover having a central aperture of substantially 360 extent and exposing said pivot, said cover having a nger stop extendingthereinto from the periphery of such aperture in a direction toward said pivot but terminating short thereof, said cover also having letters of the alphabet spaced around said aperture, said member having a series of nger holes exposed by said aperture and arranged to pass successively beneath said finger stop When said member is rotated, said linger holes disposed adjacent to 'and rregistrable with said letters of the alphabet, and means for facili,- tating rotating said member from said nger stop as a predeterminedstarting point through a certain angular movement to bring aboutv registry with said opening of the depiction on said member corresponding to the depiction selected from said cover, said angular movement being a total ofthe steps resulting from movement of said member by bringing successively to said finger stop the finger holes correspondingto the letters in the name of the object Whose depiction was p said cover having a plurality of sight openings therein, said member having thereon depictions of objects arranged in group areas,` thel depictions in each group area aligned with one of said openings, said cover having thereon selectable visiblel depictions also arranged in group areas and `which are duplicates of those on said member,

e e 3 said member corresponding to a selected depiction on said cover and belonging to the corresponding group area. v

4. In a device of the character described the combinationvofk a support, a rotatable member mounted on saidvsupport, and a cover extending over said member and secured to said support,

said cover having a plurality of covered openings Y therein, said member having thereon depictions oi objects arranged in group areas, the depictions in each group area aligned with one of said openl ings, each depiction requiring a certain angular movement of the member to bring that depiction into display at an opening when said opening is uncovered, said cover having thereon selectable visible depictions also arranged lin group areas` said cover having a plurality of sight openingslv therein, said member having thereon depictionsv of objects arranged in concentric group areas, the depictions in each group area aligned with one of said openings, each depiction requiring a certain angular movement of the member to bring that depiction into display at an opening, said cover having thereon selectable visible depictions also arranged in group areas and which are duplicates of those -on said member, and means for facilitating rotating said member from a pre-A determined starting point through such certain angular movement to bring about registrywith one of said openings of the depiction on said member corresponding to a selected depiction on said cover and belonging to the corresponding group area. e

ERNEST 2E'.l I-IISER.v 

